The Happiness Trap, is a book by Russ Harris. I have just started reading it and already it is having a positive impact on my view of life.

Here is some of my background :

Through using psychedelics I have come to realize certain truths, some of which are too hard or overwhelming to deal with. For example, on my first mushroom trip ever (I was depressed at the time) I was having a good time with friends. Viewing the world in a new beautiful way, but I also came to realize the harsh, cold, and unforgiving reality of my life. I did not want to live. Each day felt like it was just time, I had to do things until the time ran out and I could sleep again and be ok. When I was tripping I saw the sadness inside me. And realized that either I need to die. Or I need to live in a more fulfilling way. At the time I was hopeless, and thought of suicide. I was on mushrooms and just realized the most horrible thing one can realize, life is bad, it is depressing, it is infinite sadness and pain. I truthfully do not get happiness from the things i try to do to keep me busy, i dont enjoy anything. I just do things so i can not notice time as much, then at the end of the day sleep. The mushroom multiplied my emotional state 100x and I could see clearly that I needed a change.

After that trip I told my parents, even though I was deeply worried of judgement and I was embarrassed. They schedules therapy and psychiatrist meeting, prescribed pills and taught tricks to avoid the huge dark burden that I had to run away from everyday I woke up. It has been about a year since that trip and I just got a book called the happiness trap. It is unlike any other method, it gave me hope instead of the feeling of superficial smiles which I had been told to put on. The book is a very truthful, and scientific approach to your mental health. It is not only to help depression, this helps anxiety, schizophrenia, addiction, it just gives you the tools to get out of the cycle.

I can recognize the trap, I can see the truth, that everyone is sort of like me and that no one is perfect. No matter how happy they seem to be. The method used is called Acceptance and Commitment therapy, there are no shortcuts or quick fixes. But if you want to be happy you can start whenever you'd like.

r was very depressed, then had a psychedelic experience with lsa. he realized how unhappy he was in life, the trip didnt show me that life wasnt so bad, but it showed me i need to take advantage of my situation, by living life to its fullest, and never letting go of an opportunity.

this feeling was gone after the trip but the idea slightly stuck. now r is back to the previous feeling, and is working to stick by what he felt he needed to do.

when r tripped he kept rambling on "things are all gonna change" and "it all makes sense now"... but they didnt

I'm glad to hear that this book helped you, but such methods can also be a trap. I'm not saying the book is incorrect or that you are wrong to use it. I'm just saying that you will still evolve as a person, like all people do. Your beliefs and methods will diverge from that book over time, or at least they will try to. If/when the time comes, don't hesitate to put down The Happiness Trap and walk away from it, figuratively. Mindsets are like hermit crab shells: There are always bigger and better ones to grow into, but we must first allow ourselves to grow, and that means remaining unattached from our previous ways and sense of identity. (If this sentiment is echoed in The Happiness Trap, then I'm sure it's a great book)

Wow. It's amazing how much your first mushroom trip & your life at the time parrallells mine.
I had been living like a wreckless, destructive maniac and it was during my first mushroom trip
ever(also my first ever psychedelic experience) this became painfully clear to me.

Initially I was having a really good time watching grass grow & shrink meters as by a breathing
motion. Stupified & amazed I stared at distant trees across a lake as they radiated powerfull
dark cyan-blue & slightly magenta red hues at me. Then the introspective & insightfull part of
the mushroom experience began and the reality of my life began to become painfully clear to me.

I was brought home by 2 friends while I was in a state of absolute dread & terror. Weirdest bicycle ride
of my life. Back at home I locked myself in the bathroom and became convinced I had died and was experiencing
the after life. But I sank back out of that illusion again and was left in a very calm, blissfull state.

I sat up in bed, contemplating my experience, and had this feeling of absolute freedom & serenity. As if Life
was a movie that was frozen and I was the only moving, time-experiencing thing in the universe. In felt as if
I was in 1 single still frame where everything was static, still. But I could move about. Like an eternal moment
existed in that frame that would never change. I felt so liberated and blissfull that I decided to hop back on my
bicycle and cycle back to where I was with my friends before at the lake.

Because I ended it this way it was all in all very healing. I did however feel too terrified to try ushrooms again soon. I only tried them again more than a year later. From then on they've become 1 of my favourite teachers and I've become well aqcuainted with them.


This book you mention certainly sounds interresting. I'll have a look into it.

Completely agree hixidom! The thing is that with people who are severely depressed they need to learn how to live sometimes. Just so they can learn there is happiness. But then they must evolve and develop in their own ways of thinking.

I agree, and I have been helped out of depression many times. It's easy to say that only we determine our own fate, but we must sometimes realize that we have absolutely no control and learn to be at peace with that, which takes time. Happiness is such a balance of gaining control and relinquishing control at just the right times. It's a balance of striving to be in a state of greater happiness while also being happy with where we currently are. Like water, we should sculpt the landscape of our lives while also conforming to our environments. Every moment in life is a perfect fit. Sometimes we try to be something else, and it's like trying to cram a cube into a round hole. Better to be like water and be content to let our pieces fall where they may.

EDIT: But yeah, severe depression has almost always required help for me. If I could've gotten out of it on my own, I would've. In fact, the futility of my efforts to improve my mood usually make me even more depressed. But part of the comic irony of reality is that we are often helped out of depression only after we are at the point where we feel completely helpless and unhelpable.

That's a great analogy, I think that will help me out some days, thanks hix

I see happiness as an intricate balancing act, that is different for everyone. Too much dessert and you can't appreciate the sweetness. Too little dessert and all you can do is daydream about the sweetness. Everything in moderation has been the most consistent path to happiness for me.